Method of lining tubular bodies



March 12, 1935. I c,. E 1,993,751

METHOD OF LINING TUBULAR BODIES Filed March 8, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR B A ATTORNEY March 12,1935,v G. c. REID METHOD OF LINING TUBULAR BODIES Filed March 8, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 12, 1935- 5 R 1,993,751

METHOD OF LINING TUBULAR BODIES Filed March a, 1954 ,3 Sheets-Sheet 's INVENTOR n 5 same ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 12, 1935 UNITED; STATES PATENT OFFICE 1.993.751 I METHOD or LINING 'rmmmm noms's George 0. Reid, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignorto American Can Company, New York, N. Y a corporation of New Jersey Application March 8, 1934,, Serial No. 714,119

(01. 93- -38) ing to the method steps of the present invention;

11 Claims.

The present invention relates to a method of lining tubular bodies and has particular reference to the positioning of a formed liner, pref-.- erably of that general class of paper or the like,

5 into a tubular body so that the entire interior side walls of the body are covered by the liner, Y

the latter being of sufiicient. length to extend beyond the open ends of the body for folding back over these ends.

' Fiber tubular bodies are selected by way of example to set forth a preferred manner of carrying out the method steps of the present invention. These fiber bodies are particularly desirable for shipping containers because of their cheapness, but their use is somewhat limited as they usually'will not hold liquid contents.

The present invention contemplates the lining of these bodies with a liquid proof liner of cellulose structure, preferably in a tubular form, which may be readily inserted within the body and in engagement with its interior side walls and further contemplates the use of such a liner of suflicient length so that the projecting ends may be folded over to cover the edges of the body and also a portion of its exterior side wall, without the use of adhesive or other means ofholding the liner in position; 7

An object of the present invention is the provision of a method of protecting the interior surfaces of tubular bodies by the insertion of a formed liner within the confines of the body.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a method of holding such an inserted ;,-without the use of adhesives or the like.

A further object is the provision of a method of assembling a tubular body and a tubular liner of suflicient length to extend beyond theends of the body.

A still further object is the provision of a method of inserting such liners into tubular bodies in engagement with their interior side walls and of folding over protruding ends of the liner in permanent position in tubular bodies Figs. 1 and 2, respectively, illustrating a liner and a tubular body into which the liner is to be inserted; Fig. 3 showing these parts inserted one within the other, while Fig. 4' shows the completely finished product of assembled body and liner;

Figs. 5, 6 and '7 are sectional views'of one form of apparatus for carrying out the method steps of the invention and showing three such steps; and

Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are fragmentary sectional views on an enlarged scale of apart of such an apparatus, illustrating the manner of turning the ends of the liner over the edges of the body.

In the method steps of the present invention a liner of thin cellulose material, preferably prc'' formed in a tubular structure is drawn over a hollow mandrel having circumferential openings or annular slots adjacent its closed ends, one end of the liner being brought into engagement with a gauge blockto properly locate it on the mandrel. A vacuum is then drawn on'the interior of the mandrel causing parts of the liner to be partially forced into the circumferential openings, thus holding the liner rigid.-

'A tubular body preferably of, fiber, which is shorter than the tubular liner, is now drawn over the mandrel clinging liner, this body being then located in a predetermined position on the mandrel with its ends adjacent the circumferential openings of the mandrel andin such location the liner protrudes at both ends. A cap is next brought down over the top end of the liner and tubular body, this cap' being similar in general construction to the gauge block at the lower end. Both cap and gauge block have shaped internal side walls which terminate peripherally adjacent the circumferential openings of the hollow mandrel.

The vacuum connection with the mandrel interior is now cut oil! and a blast of compressed air is injected into the mandrel. Thisair escapes through the circumferential openings and, bulging out the protruding ends of the liner, brings these ends into engagement with-the interior of the tubular body and rolls each end of the liner down between the exterior wall. of the body and the interior wall of the cap or gauge block. The

,cross section of these liner ends changes in varyaction, finally flattening out as each end of the liner is brought against the adjacent exterior side wall of the body. All of this reshaping is done without stretching the liner material beyond its elastic limit. The positioned end edges of the liner are under a slight tension, having been stretched to a slightly larger size, and exert a clinging engagement with the body walls and this holds the liner relative to the body and against any longitudinal shifting. Adhesives or other extraneous holding elements are therefore unnecessary.

The drawings illustrate sufiicient of the principal parts of a mechanism for carrying out the method steps of the invention and a brief description of this mechanism will first be given.

This mechanism comprises mainly, a vertically disposed mandrel or horn, generally indicated by the numeral 11, and consisting of three cooperating sections, a head 21, a tubular central part22, and a base section 23 (Fig. 5) tied together by spider members 24, 25. Adjacent sections 21, 22 and 22, 23 are held in spaced relation by the spider members and there is thus formed circumferential slots or annular openings 26, 2'? at the ends of the central part 22. These three sections are of the shape of the body being lined, i. e., they are all cylindrical in shape when a cylindrical body is lined and all sections are of the same outside diameter. Their peripheral walls provide a smooth continuous outer surface for g the mandrel which is interrupted only by the narrow openings 26, 27.

The tubular or central section 22 of the mandrel is internally chamfered' at each end leaving narrow top and bottom edges 28, 29 and inclined surfaces 31, 32 which merge into recesses 33, 34. At the upper end of the tube section 22, the recess 33 accommodates the spider 24 which is formed with openings 35 and a central shouldered stem 36 the latter passing through a bore 37 in the center of the head 21. A nut 38 threadedly engaging the end of the stem completes this assembly and assists in the tying together of the parts as previously described.

The under side of head 21 may be of frustoconical shape having inclined walls 41 which preferably are parallel to the chamfered walls 31 of the tube section. An annular passageway 42 thus results, communicating with the inside of the mandrel section 22 through the openings 35. The outlet of this passageway is through the circumferential opening 26.

The tying together of the central section 22 and the base section 23 is accomplished in a similar manner. The recess 34 adjacent the lower end of the section 22 accommodates the spider 25 whichlike the top spider is also provided with openings as at 44 and extends down as a central shouldered hollow stem 45. This stem is supported by a threaded engagement within a bore 46 formed in the center of the base 23. This base like the head 21 is also of frusto-conical shape and has inclined walls 47 which preferably are parallel to the walls 32 of the chamfered end of the tube section 22 when the parts are assembled. This provides a passageway 48 communicating through thespider openings 44 with the interior of the mandrel. The outlet of this passageway is through the circumferential opening 2'7. I

The whole mandrel structure 11 comprising the three sections just described is supported within a recess 51 of a cup member or gauge block 52 which in turn rests upon any suitable support plate 53. Gauge block 52 and base 23 are connected by bolts 54' which rigidly hold these parts on the plate 53.

A step in the method of the present invention is the vacuumization of the interior of the mandrel and a further step comprises forcing compressed air through the mandrel. For this purpose there is provided a pipe 56 which projects into the interior of the mandrel from the bottom and which may be connected to any suitable source of vacuum when vacuum is used and to any suitable source of compressed air when that step is used.

This pipe 56 is threadedly mounted in the hollow spider stem 45 and its lower end extends down through the bottom of the gauge block 52 and through the plate 53. The upper end of the pipe, which is practically in the center of the central mandrel section 22 is formed with an enlarged hollow head 57 having outlet peripheral slots 58.

The first step of the present method is the positioning of a liner A, (Figs. 1 and'5) over the mandrel 11. This liner is slightly larger than the mandrel and is easily slid thereon. Vacuum cups 61 or other suitable holding and positioning devices may be used to bring the liner into its vertical inserting position over the mandrel 11 and to draw it down in place. The top of the head section 21 may be tapered as at 62 to more easily guide the liner into position.

The liner A is long enough to extend above and below the circumferential openings 26, 2'7 when in position on the mandrel. The lower edge of the liner A is moved down into engagement with an annular gauging or shouldered stop 63formed in the gauge block 52 adjacent the recess 51.

With the liner A in position on the mandrel vacuum is drawn through the pipe 56 and air is exhausted from the interior of the mandrel sections including the passageways 42, 48. The outside atmospheric pressure thereupon partially forces the adjacent liner wall into the circumferential openings 26, 27 efiecting a holding of the liner'on the mandrel (Fig. 6)

The vacuum cups 61 are withdrawn from the liner and are next used to draw a tubular body B (Figs. 2 and 6) down over the positioned liner. This tubular body is in length equal to the distance between the circumferential openings 26, 27 of the mandrel 11 and the body as located in its final position, has its end edges adjacent these openings as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 7, both ends of the liner extending beyond the ends of the body.

The next and final step is the bending outwardly of the protruding liner ends and the folding of each over the associated edge of thebody B. In final position the liner ends lay flat against the exterior side wall of the body as illustrated in Fig. 4. This is done by a blast of compressed air inJected into the mandrel through the pipe 56. This step will now be explained and each part of the step will be carefully analyzed.

Preparatory to folding the liner ends and just after the body B has been placed on the liner a cap 66 (Fig. 7) is brought down over the head section 21 in a position surrounding the protruding upper liner end. This cap cooperates with the mandrel to properly retain and direct the-upper edge of the liner during its folding action and acts in the same capacity as the gauge block 52 in its action on the lower edge.

The air entering the pipe 56 under pressure escapes through the slots 58 in the head 5'7 and fills the interior of the mandrel 11 and passes out through the passageways 42, 48 and through the -71, 72 of the respective cap 66 and gauge block '52 (see Fig. 8)

This is only a momentary condition for immediately, the air builds up in pressure and expands the bulge, forcing, the thin liner walls to progressively change into varying channel shapes. Figure 9 shows an intermediate stage wherein the liner end has moved between the inside sur- -iace 68 of the cap 66 and the exterior wall of the tubular body B. It will be understood that such a reshaping oi the lower end of the liner is going on in the gauge block 52. Finally the end of the liner flattens out and snaps against the exterior side wall of the body as shown in Fig. 10. Somewhere between the shape of Fig. 9 and that of Fig. 10 the edge oi the liner, leaves the wall 680i the cap 66 and the wall 69 of the gauge block 52 and this lets the confined air escape.

The clearance between the surface 68 of the cap 66 and the outside of the body B, and this also applies to the wall 69 of the gauge block, is preferably not very great. This insures a rolling ac tion of the liner ends as they bend over the edges of the body B and prevents stretching of the liner material beyond its elastic limit. lhis action or bending the liner ends throughout all of the different shapes is practically instantaneous, a blast of air injected into the mandrel performing the work without the. use of'any moving parts.

When the liner ends flatten out they are under some tension having been stretched into larger diameter and therefore they cling to the outside wall of the body thus effecting holding of the liner within the body without the use of adhesives.

Since it is the outward flow of the confined compressed air pocketed within the inside 01 the protruding liner ends, that efiects the folding or rolling of these ends over the edges of the body wall the same effect may be obtained by removing air from the outside or the positioned body, that is, by drawing a vacuum outside of the projecting liner'ends. To do this it is merely necessary to extend the vertical walls 71, 72 of the respective cap 66 and gauge block 52 until they meet 'to provide an outer chamber enclosing the body B and the exposed ends of the liner A. Air may then be removed from such a chamber in any suitable manner. whereupon the air inside of the mandrel which is at atmospheric pressure, flows out in the same way as before carrying the liner ends before'it. It will be observed that such a suggested modification in no way alters the principle herein disclosed, that is, establishing a difierence oi air pressure inside and outside of projecting liner ends so that these ends will move out and'unroll into position on the body ends.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the steps of the process described and their orderoi accomplishment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the process hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof. 1

I claim: a

1. A method of lining tubular bodies which comprises providing a tubular body of predetermined length, providing a tubular liner of greater length,.assembling said body and said liner so that an end of the latter projects beyond an end of the body, and folding said projecting end over the end edge of said body by fluid pressure.

2. A method of lining tubular bodies which comprises providing a tubular body of predetermined length, providing a tubular liner of greater length, assembling said body and said liner so that an end of the latter projects equally beyond each end of the body, and folding said, projecting ends over the-end edges of said body by air pressure.

'3. A method of lining tubular bodies which comprises providing a tubular body of predetermined length, providing a tubular liner of greater length, assembling said body and said liner so that an end of the latter projects equally beyond each end of the body, and holding said body and said liner in assembled position by folding said projecting ends over the end edges of said body by air pressure.

l. A method of lining. tubular bodies which comprises inserting a liner into a tubular body of lesser length so that the ends of said liner extend beyond the ends of said body, holding said liner in inserted position, and folding the extended ends of said held liner outwardly and back over the ends of said body by fluid pressure.

5. A method oi lining tubular bodies which comprises providing a mandrel, placing a liner on said mandrel, inserting said mandrel and said liner into a body which is shorter than said liner so that the ends ofsaid liner extend beyond the ends of said body, and bending the extended ends of said liner outwardly and back over the ends of said body by fluid pressure.

6. A method of lining tubular bodies which comprises providing a. mandrel for supporting the bodies, drawing a liner of greater length than said body over said mandrel the while gauging its position thereon, drawing a said body over said posiv tioned liner so that the ends of the liner extend beyond the ends of said body, and exerting fluid pressure against the extended liner ends to fold them back over the ends and against the exterior side wall of said body.

'7. .A method of lining tubular bodies which comprises providing a mandrel for supporting a tubular body, drawing a liner of greater length than said body over said mandrel and in a predetermined position, holding said liner on said mandrel in said position, drawing a said body over said positioned liner so that the ends of said liner ex tend beyond the ends of said body, and foldingthe extended liner ends back over the ends ind against the exterior side wall of said body by fluid pressure.

- 8. A method comprises providing a mandrel for supportingthe bodies, drawing a liner of greater length than said or lining tubular bodies which body over said mandrel and centralizing the liner thereon, holding said liner against movement of said body.

9. A method of lining tubular bodies which relative to said mandrel, drawing a said body over comprises providing a mandrel, drawing a liner of greater length than said body over said mandrel and centralizing its position thereon, holding said liner by fluid pressure on said mandrel, drawing a said body over said held liner so that the ends of said liner extend beyond the ends of said body, and outwardly rolling by fluid pressure the said. liner ends over the ends of said body thereby effecting a clinging action on the exterior side walls of said body without stretching said liner beyond its elastic limit.

10. A method of lining tubular bodies which comprises providing a hollow mandrel for entering such a body and for conforming substantially to the interior thereof, drawing a liner of greater length than said body over said mandrel and gauging its position thereon, drawing a vacuum on the inside of said mandrel and holding said liner in its centralized position, drawing a said body over said held liner so that the ends of said liner extend beyond the ends of said body, and replacing said vacuum with compressed air which is exerted outwardly thereby rolling the ends of said liner over the ends of said body so that the elasticity in said liner effects a clinging action on the exterior side walls of said body.

11. A method of assembling tubular members which comprises providing a tubular member of predetermined length, providing a second tubular member of greater length, placing said members one within the other so that the ends of said second member project beyond the ends of said first mentioned member, and folding said projecting ends over the end edges of said first member by fluid pressure.

GEORGE C. REID. 

